New to RPGs?

Tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs for short), are a unique blend of creativity, strategy, and collaboration. With other forms of entertainment, you enjoy someone else’s creative work, but with RPGs you have fun creating the story along with your friends. It’s like:

Writing a novel where the main characters write their own parts.

Playing a video game that allows you to do whatever you can imagine, making up new scenes and characters as you take unexpected turns.

Playing improv, with timeouts allowed, with books full of inspiration, and without the pressure of an audience.

Acting—you don’t have to dress up, do accents, or speak in the first person as the character—but you step into a character’s shoes and learn to make creative decisions based off of the character’s motivation.

No other form of entertainment is going to transport you to a different world and let you see the world through someone else’s eyes quite like roleplaying games do. Plus, playing a roleplaying game can be a memorable get together with your friends.

How do you play an RPG?

In a typical game:

A game master and one or more players agree on the type of setting and story they want for the game.

Players create protagonists for that setting.

Once characters are created, the game master describes a scene—typically with some sort of conflict, quest, or mystery that spurs the players into action.

Players narrate the actions of their characters.

If a character attempts something challenging, the player rolls dice to determine whether the character succeed. The character’s stats can increase or decrease the chances of success.

The game master narrates the outcome of the character’s actions and any updates to the game world.

The above cycle of prompt, response, and outcome repeats until the GM and players feel they’ve completed their story arc: the characters achieved a goal, solved a mystery, transformed as individuals, or even died.

The whole process can be an evening (if the characters are made ahead of time), or the Game Master and players might play countless sessions over several years.

Want to play?

Varza Games is always looking for new testers to make the game accessible for new RPGers as well as for grizzled veterans. Join our email list to hear about our introductory play sessions, and we’ll help guide you through your first Tox game.